A husband and wife team from Illinois have filed a Benicar lawsuit against Daiichi Sankyo, a Japanese drug company, as well as several related pharmaceutical firms, alleging that the blood pressure drug caused symptoms that mimicked celiac disease, leading to misdiagnosis and months of suffering.

The Benicar lawsuit was filed jointly by plaintiffs Deborah Dirksen and her husband Richard Dirksen. In their Benicar lawsuit, they allege that Deborah was prescribed Benicar in 2009.

Their Benicar lawsuit holds that the drug caused sprue-like enteropathy, a group of symptoms that mimic celiac disease, as well as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and villous atrophy.

The Dirksens’ Benicar lawsuit alleges that it was impossible for them to realize that the drug could have been the cause of her symptoms until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated labeling changes for Benicar in 2013.

Sprue-like enteropathy is a name given to conditions that can mimic the symptoms of celiac disease, including painful, debilitating, chronic diarrhea. Celiac disease belongs to a constellation of disease that cause problems in the intestines, leading to pain, bloating, and chronic diarrhea.

Most diseases in this group respond to a very strict diet excluding gluten and other foods. However, a significant class of patients do not respond to these dietary changes, and physicians are currently at a loss to explain their illnesses.

Because of this, the Dirksens’ Benicar lawsuit contends that many people may have taken Benicar for years, not realizing that their blood pressure medication may have been the cause of their celiac disease symptoms. In Deborah’s case, she underwent months of painful, invasive medical testing to try and determine the cause of her celiac disease symptoms.

In July 2013, the FDA mandated changes to the drug information that came with Benicar, to reflect an updated awareness of the risk of sprue-like enteropathy for patients taking Benicar.

According to Benicar lawsuits like the Dirksens’, this was the first time that many patients and even doctors realized that Benicar could be the cause of many patients’ unresponsive celiac disease symptoms.

Benicar lawsuits allege that this led to months or even years of suffering from painful, embarrassing symptoms.

Benicar lawsuits like this one allege that the makers of Benicar were aware — or reasonably should have been aware — of the serious risks associated with Benicar.

These Benicar lawsuits further allege that not only were drug makers aware, but that they downplayed these risks in order to continue selling their drug, causing patients to suffer from celiac disease symptoms when the symptoms could have been resolved by discontinuing Benicar.

These Benicar celiac disease lawsuits typically seek compensation for pain and suffering, as well as medical costs, lost wages, and legal fees ultimately stemming from their alleged Benicar side effects.

The Benicar Lawsuit is Deborah Dirksen, et al v. Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., et al, Case No. 3318, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Springfield Division.